Can a sleep disorder cause vertigo?

[HapaMom]

My husband is 34 yo and has had vertigo, fatigue, and shortness of breath since June 2005. He has not been able to work due to this. When he is not having a vertigo attack, he has constant light-headedness. He says he constantly feels like he's on a boat (prior to this illness, he was already very sensitive to motion). Also prior to this illness, he got altitude sickness when we went up to the mountains on a snowboarding trip.

To date, he has been to numerous specialists, and had several scans & bloodwork done, and no one has been able to diagnose him. One neurologist suggested he may have a delayed sleep cycle or some other sleep disorder that may be causing this. Is that possible? He also has sleep apnea (he now uses a CPAP), anhidrosis (so he overheats all the time and that exacerbates the vertigo), and his pulse & blood pressure will sometimes randomly fluctuate up & down. He has been on meds for pulse & BP, and they regulated his vitals, but that did not help with the main problem.

Basically we want to know if there is anyone out there with any other ideas of what may be wrong with my husband...

[Corne89]

I want to know fisrt from you , do you also get it that the Doctors think it could be emotional , and then they want to give you something else , or do you also experience it as being physical ?  LIKE ME, I WANT TO ASK SOME QUESTIONS , TO TRY AND GET TO A POINT

[Corne89]

I am 40 years of age , i have been diagnosed with hypertention and sleep abnea , it took the doctors 2.5 years to find this out , and was dead tired , i became dizzy from the morning all during the day , people thought i was drunk, and drinking at work , i had to explain to my manager this is not the case as i would also struggle to talk due to short breath, i was promoted just before all this happened , but i was doing my job even though i new something is starting to happen or to go wrong , and that is when it started , half a year after being promoted , but not on paper , i tried to explain to the doctor , managers ,that this was not the case as above and that i am not well , I went from Doctor to Doctor , and some thinking as well that i have drank , i asked to take a blood sample to proof my innocence , as the people at work also had this idea , he said he will have it ready as i was in his office 8:00 due to being at work at 7:30 , and having people giving me a hard time , the blood test came back , only a few hours later , CLEAN , the doctor phoned me to came back , he decided it was stress , he gave me pills , and pills for the inner ear , it helped a bit but still the dizzyness persisted . it is like i was looking threw a fog , like being scared, together with unsure of myself , like i cant manage myself to do the basic things to walk around or stand still and concentrate on a client in front  of me , as i am swinging inside my head , i will sit on a chair and it will swing around me  , and it is not like some people say it is if you stand up quickly and you feel light headed for a few seconds , NO you are almost constantly on a boat , i think their was maybe not a  full hour that passed where i was myself  . i have seen 5 Doctors ended up at a Neorologist who could not find any thing , went for scans did it all  , could not afford the blood one where they pass liquid threw your blood to see on the MRI if their is a blockage , in the end the Doctor said i look tired , maybe i don't sleep well , So i said , Yes can i be tested , and was referred, by know i had it for 2.5 years all ready,  FINALLY , i found a doctor that helps with sleep , it was found i had 84 events per hour , and that my machine should be placed on 16 , Man was this hard , i never had any relieve , it felt like i slept worse , people was saying you found the cure but still look at you , have you slept , i felt worse , i went back and told the Doctor , the machine makes me more dizzy then what i all ready was, I WENT BACK TWICE , i was told she cant do nothing for me , if this is the case , maybe their is something else wrong , I knew that it was the sleep disorder  , so i went back to the Doctor , testing it all , Nothing , , the only other thing i noticed , i picked up a lot of wait during this 2.5 years , and still gaining , but during all this tiredness , i tried to exercise , i Started to realize that the machine was blowing at 16 , and that if this happens and i sleep  it keeps blowing and it does not blow and stop a while , then blow and stop a while , only while you are getting to sleep , once it is at its peak it just blows, so i realized , but i cant breathe out when this happens , to i changed the reading of the machine to 9 or 10 , feeling that if it is at this level i can manage to blow out my breath from my nose , I cant tell you to do this !, but it helped me a bit ,  , it felt i was having a panic attack with the machine on 16 , in the morning , also i take blood thinners ecotrin , once or twice daily and blood pressure pill in the morning , i realized i have to walk 4-5km a day in the afternoon , 3 - 4 times a week ,  and i try to sleep only what is needed 8 hours A DAY, if i wake up earlier i will try to go outside to get the fresh air in my body , not really walking around just breathing , other wise if i sleep to long it feels i have to much CO2 in my blood as well , and it takes longer to desolve through my body ,  i exercise my stomach by doing  5 different exercises for only 6 minutes every second day . believe me it is hard , but if i don't  it feels it comes back .Believe me their is times , i do all this but still it does not go away completely it is all ways there , only a bit more manageable , i struggle to loose wait a lot , but i am better when i start to do , it feel this illness want me to move around , don't worry what the people think , or how you look , i do it for myself , believe me i had comments a lot , and still do here and there. i am trying now to go on oxygen liquid you buy from the pharmacy for R300.00 a month it last a month  , you drink it in the morning , maybe this will speed up my metabolism to loose the fat , but this is me , i don't have a cure , but this helps me . For my nervousness , I go to church . i know what you go threw , there is times i think , I cant go on , due to it being hard everyday , but you should persist, by taking action , and do what you can , i am still looking around, hope you have found answers ,  

[Suri123]

HI, thanks for your reply. I do understand how hard it would be going through this tough time. Even after your husband been treated by several doctor's, he is continuing his problems. Regarding Dysautonomia - it may be caused by many different things, and do not have one, single universal cause.  Some patients inherit the propensity to develop the dysautonomia syndromes, since variations of dysautonomia often run in families. Viral illnesses can trigger dysautonomia syndrome, so can exposure to chemicals. Low blood pressure, tachycardia, chronic fatigue been triggered by exposure to toxins. Bed rest is no longer considered treatment of choice. Most patient’s of dysautonomia eventually find that their symptoms either go away or abate to the point that they are able to lead nearly normal lives. Since the underlying cause of dysautonomia is not known, treatment is largely aimed at controlling symptoms, and not at "curing" the problem. Maintaining a daily level of physical activity, drugs like  Tricyclic antidepressants - such as amitriptyline (Elavil,) desipramine (Norpramin,) and nortriptyline (Pamelor) - have been used, in low dosage, to treat several of the dysautonomia syndromes. Selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs) - such as fluoxitine (Prozac) sertraline (Zoloft,) and paroxetine (Paxil) - have also been used to treat these syndromes. Anti-anxiety drugs - such as alprazolam (Xanax) and lorazepam (Ativan) help to control symptoms of anxiety. Non-steroidal antiinflammatory drugs - Ibuprofen (Motrin, Advil,) and naproxen (Naprosen, Aleve) can help control the pains associated with the dysautonomias, especially fibromyalgia. A trial and error approach, requiring the patience of both doctor and patient, is almost always necessary. So you need to go to a physician with whom you both can be more comfortable and have complete faith in his care. Take care.

[HapaMom]

Thank you for your reply. However, we have tried everything that you have suggested already. It will be 3 yrs in June that he has had this. They ruled out positional vertigo and labyrinthitis. We have seen 3 ENTs and had 2 sleep studies done (which is how he ended up on the CPAP). He cannot take any sort of sleep medication, anti-anxiety meds or pretty much any medication at all. His nervous system is extremely sensitive. The most recent diagnosis is some sort of dysautonomia. But the doctors are very vague about that, including the treatment for it. They say it is only manageable, but not curable. I don't believe that anything is incurable. The human body has the amazing ability to heal itself, when equipped with the correct tools. I'm looking for someone or something to show me what those tools are. Please, if anyone has ANY idea regarding my husband's situation, email me or post here. This is destroying our lives, and our marriage is slowly deteriorating. Thank you for reading...

[Suri123]

Hi, I feel it is the Vertigo which could lead to sleep disturbance as one may not get good sleep. Vertigo is lightheadedness, feeling of fainting, being unsteady, loss of balance, or vertigo - a feeling that you or the room is spinning or moving happens when you change the position of your head, usually not serious and either quickly resolve on their own or are easily treatable. Causes may be a sudden drop in your blood pressure may be due to shock, low blood sugar levels, getting up too quickly from a lying or seated position mostly in elderly people. Heart problems can be serious. Sometimes need to avoid sudden changes in posture, Most times benign positional vertigo and labyrinthitis go away on their own within a few weeks. During attacks of vertigo from any cause, one has to try to rest and lie still, avoid sudden changes in your position as well as bright lights, cautious about driving or using machinery. Medications include antihistamines, sedatives, or pills for nausea. Obstructive sleep apnea could be a reason for disturbed sleep —sometimes resulting in number of awakenings per night ending up having excessive daytime sleep because of fatigue, feeling unrefreshed after sleeping, and daytime sleep attacks. It is better to continue with CPAP machine and Ambien. If still he faces problems consult an ENT doctor and sleep specialist for check up and investigation if necessary. Take care.